“Elect” The Dictator

The moves meant to ensure that the military junta gets its way (again) following an “election” include the manipulation and making of “rules” that allow The Dictator stay at the top.

The Bangkok Post reports that a misnamed “reform panel” is seeking to essentially dismantle all existing political parties, forcing them to re-register and re-form for any upcoming “election.”

The National Reform Steering Assembly’s (NRSA) panel on political reform is recommending the drafting of four organic laws associated with the new charter that will make an unelected premier the most likely outcome of the “election.”

One of the “recommendations” floated to see the public response involves “overhauling membership of political parties by requiring their current members to re-register, known as the ‘set-zero’ approach.”

After re-registering, each member will need to pay “an annual membership fee of 200 baht.”

This is meant to ensure that the huge membership of the Puea Thai Party is intimidated and, in the end, made far smaller than its highs at about 11 million.

He’s lost in space. There is no democratic system and the junta doesn’t propose one.

The Puea Thai Party was clearer: “Pheu Thai acting deputy spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard described the move as ‘expected’, saying the so-called ‘five-river organisations’ [the junta’s backers in its own ‘institutions’] were doing their part to keep the military in power.”